Children learning how to play and practice baseball and softball often have difficulty determining where to position their feet in relation to home plate when approaching homeplate for batting. The problem becomes more difficult since major league, baseball, little league baseball and softball each have different regulations for defining the batting area around homeplate. Teenagers and adults face similar hurdles when practicing and playing these games. Currently, unless the batting area has been line marked by white chalk, practitioners must use guess-work to establish the correct location area. This becomes a particular problem when one is trying to practice and play on an unmarked field such as a backyard or park.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,809 to Ciarfello describes a portable device for delineating playing fields made of a plastic material. However, this device is limited to the games of tic tac toe and hopscotch. U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,379 to Cline describes a device for writing a baseball batters' box that includes a raised template frame. Cline uses this device to create a ground type imprint so that a scribe or a line striping machine can establish the batters box, column 4, lines 13-24. If the Cline device remained on the ground, the raised edges of the device can create a dangerous tripping hazard to those wanting to take batting practice. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,560 describes a batting box make of a mat material. However, this device is no more than a mat that the batter must stand on directly. Other types of devices of related interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,815,906 to Hermo; 3,979,116 to Matchick; 4,194,735 to Wilson; 4,510,692 to Overholser et al.; 4,516,772 to Stratton; 4,552,120 to Nail et al.; 4,932,656 to Pierce; 5,076,580 to Lang; and 5,371,949 to Delaurier, which describe similar unsuccessful attempts to solve the problems mentioned above.